William Traher, painter, illustrator, and cartographer was born in Rock Springs, Wyoming on April 6, 1908. He studied for three years at the National Academy of Design (NY) under Leon Kroll and Arthur Covey, followed by a year at Yale University's School of Fine Arts; at both institutions he earned top honors. He was primarily active in Colorado, where he worked for the Denver Museum of Nature and Science (then known as the Denver Museum of Natural History) as their Chief Background Artist for over twenty years. Traher was also employed as a muralist by the Public Works of Art Project beginning in 1935, creating a mural for the Cole Junior High School in Denver, CO, and for the DeWitt Post Office in Dewitt, AK, in 1941. He also designed bronze memorial plaques for Rocky Mountain National Park, CO.

Work located at: Iowa State University; Denver Art Museum; Colorado State Historical Society; Rocky Mountain National Park.

Murals include: Cole Jr. High School, Denver; Williams Field, Arizona; USPO, DeWitt, Arkansas. Natural habitat backgrounds for Denver Museum of Natural History; Design, Container Corp.; set Design, Barter Theatre's The Virginian.


Sources: Who's Who in American Art 1953; University of Central Arkansas (DeWitt Post Office Mural); biography blog written by the artist's son can be found at williamtraher.wordpress.com